Medford to get new street signs from rideshare tax

Miranda Willson mwillson@wickedlocal.com @medford_trans

Thursday

Oct 11, 2018 at 10:35 AMOct 11, 2018 at 12:12 PM

The signs will be located throughout the city to improve pedestrian safety.

Rideshare apps such as Uber and Lyft have brought nearly 1 million new cab rides onto Medford streets in the last year, officials estimate. Thanks to a state tax approved in 2016, the apps have also flushed communities across the Commonwealth, including Medford, with some extra cash.

Medford has received $96,500 to date for the 965,000 rides that have passed through the city in the last year, according to Director of Finance Aleesha Nunley Benjamin. That money came from a 10-cent surcharge or tax on every rideshare trip in the city, paid for by the rideshare companies themselves, not drivers or consumers.

The city has decided to use the funds to improve pedestrian safety in multiple locations in Medford, adding new crossing signs, stop signs and radar-feedback signs. The new signs will be LED and solar-powered and located at the following 21 streets and intersections:

Governor’s Avenue at High Street – solar-powered stop sign with a flashing LED border

The new signage is considered a “first step” toward making city streets safer for everyone, including pedestrians and motorists, according to City Engineer Todd Blake.

“This was seen as a way to utilize this funding from the Uber and Lyft services to stretch the city’s dollar, get a lot of bang for the buck and try to spread the improvements city-wide,” Blake said at the Oct. 9 City Council meeting. “Every one of these locations was pegged because it was [determined] that it could benefit from these types of improvements.”

“These types of improvements are supposed to provide greater awareness, higher visibility and increase driver obedience for locations where there’s a pedestrian crossing or a stop sign,” he explained. “These improvements will highlight the fact that they’re there.”

The City Council unanimously approved the allocation of funds to the streets and intersections on Oct. 9.

“This is money well-spent,” Councilor John Falco Jr. said. “We as a Council have had numerous resolutions regarding traffic, traffic safety and pedestrian safety, and I think this will help with some of those issues.”

It is unclear when the signs will be installed at this time, though Falco requested that the Department of Public Works inform the Council of when residents can expect to see them popping up in their neighborhoods.

According to Blake, similar signs have been successful in neighboring communities, including Somerville and Melrose, and typically require maintenance after one to two years. Because they do not use electricity, they are otherwise “self-contained,” Blake added.

The locations of the signs were determined based on complaints and requests from residents and advice from professionals in the city, such as the Engineering Department or the Police Department.

Most councilors expressed enthusiasm for the new signs, though Councilor Michael Marks raised several concerns. One question he had was whether the nature of the signs, which will be reflective at all hours, could disturb residents at night.

“I can potentially foresee an issue where someone would have a concern with something flashing at night,” Marks said.

Blake countered that nighttime is also when these signs are typically most useful.

“Nighttime is one of the times when they’ll need that visibility,” he said.

The new signs will hopefully be the first of many new installations in the city, Blake added. He encouraged councilors to send him any complaints they receive from residents about streets that need improvement.

“As we go forward with future years with this money, hopefully we can continue to select locations, and we welcome suggestions from any of you at any time,” Blake said.